"Both the government and individual patients can stockpile antibiotics." (paragraph 2)
"The government stockpiles, or stores, antibiotics to care for its citizens, and to be ready to respond to an actual bioterrorist event." (paragraph 2)
"Without specific instructions, patients are likely to take the drug for a common illness, cold, or cough, which is not anthrax. [or any other bacterial infection]" (paragraph 4)
"Thus, stockpiling ciprofloxacin could lead to widespread misuse of this important antibiotic prior to any bioterrorist event." (paragraph 4)
"Consumers should not use stockpiled antibiotics unless there is an official public health alert stating that we ARE having a bioterrorism event and that the organism is in fact one that can be treated with this drug." (paragraph 5)
"Currently, many bacteria that cause severe human illnesses are already resistant to other antibiotics; the drug of choice is often from the fluoroquinolone family, of which ciprofloxacin is a member." (paragraph 7)
"As you use ciprofloxacin, susceptible bacteria in your intestinal tract and on your skin are killed, leaving behind resistant bacteria" (paragraph 8)
"People can and do die of bacterial infections because an effective antibiotic cannot be found." (paragraph 8)
"Educating the patient on the risks of antibiotic misuse is essential." (paragraph 10)
"If the physician does prescribe the antibiotic, it is very important to stress to the patient the need to refrain from taking it for any reason until receiving a government bioterrorism alert." (paragraph 10)
"Very recently, through the GAARD project (a collaborative effort sponsored by APUA), two global surveillance groups, SENTRY and the Alexander Project, have detected the first signs of fluoroquinolone resistance in Haemophilus influenzae, a respiratory tract infectious agent" (paragraph 11)
"The real danger is that we will lose the efficacy of this drug very rapidly as homes across America begin to use it." (paragraph 7)
"Widespread use of ciprofloxacin will kill a great number of bacteria that are susceptible to ciprofloxacin." (paragraph 7)
"The bacteria that are not killed will be those that evolve resistance to ciprofloxacin." (paragraph 7)
"These ciprofloxacin-resistant bacteria can then flourish unchecked by this important antibiotic." (paragraph 7)
- "General Background: Bioterrorism & Stockpiling Antibiotics." Tufts University. Web. 05 Apr. 2011
http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/about_issue/bioterrorism.shtml